Holmes v. National Football League

• Decision Date: 27 August 1996
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 3:95-CV-2704-D.
• Parties: Clayton A. HOLMES, Plaintiff, v. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE and National Football League Management Council, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas

939 F. Supp. 517

Clayton A. HOLMES, Plaintiff, v. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE and National Football League Management Council, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:95-CV-2704-D.

United States District Court, N.D. Texas, Dallas Division.

August 27, 1996.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Grady C. Irvin, Jr., Gulfport, FL, for plaintiff.

Daniel L. Nash (argued) and Lisa F. Lazarus, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, Washington, DC, John V. Jansonius, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, Dallas, TX, and Dennis Curran, National Football League Management Council, New York City, for defendants.

FITZWATER, District Judge:

This is an action by a professional football player who was enrolled involuntarily in the National Football League Policy and Program for Drugs of Abuse and Alcohol (the "Drug Program") after testing positive for the use of marihuana, and was thereafter suspended for four games without pay when subsequent tests showed continued drug use. Defendants' motion to dismiss presents the question whether plaintiff's assertion that he was denied a "full due process hearing" in connection with the grievance of his involuntary enrollment and suspension states a breach of contract claim pursuant to § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 ("LMRA"), 29 U.S.C. § 185. The court must also decide whether § 301 of the LMRA preempts plaintiff's pendent state-law claims for fraudulent inducement, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and invasion of privacy, which are based upon the administration, use, and consequences of the initial drug test.

I

Plaintiff Clayton A. Holmes ("Holmes") sues defendants National Football League ("NFL") and National Football League Management Council ("Management Council"). He challenges on various grounds the administration of a drug test that led to his involuntary enrollment in the Drug Program, and eventually to a four-game suspension without pay, as well as the denial of his appeals from the disciplinary actions. Holmes seeks actual damages in an amount not less than $1 million, and $30 million in punitive damages.¹

During the relevant time period, Holmes was employed by The Dallas Cowboys Football Club (the "Cowboys"), one of 30 member clubs of defendant NFL.² In February 1995 Holmes became a restricted free agent under the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement 1993-2000 ("CBA"), entered into May 6, 1993 between defendant Management Council, on behalf of all NFL clubs, and the National Football League Players Association ("NFLPA"), on behalf of all NFL players. The CBA allowed Holmes to market his skills to other NFL teams. The Cowboys presented Holmes with a tender offer, which permitted the team to retain Holmes as a player by matching any competing proposal. Prior to reaching agreement with the Cowboys, however, Holmes visited the Detroit Lions (the "Lions") to explore the possibility of employment. The Lions requested that Holmes submit to a drug test, informing him that the urine specimen was required as a condition of employment, and was being used for the purpose of detecting the use of steroids. On March 9, 1995 Holmes provided the sample, and the test results showed that he had used marihuana metabolites. Holmes alleges that the Lions and defendants knowingly misrepresented that the drug test was a condition of possible employment; that he was required to provide the specimen; and that the sample was being taken solely to detect for the use of steroids, when the true purpose was to test for marihuana, cocaine, and other controlled substances.

The Lions purported to administer the test to Holmes pursuant to the Drug Program, which was adopted as part of the collective bargaining process between the Management Council and the NFLPA. The Drug Program is a three-stage program designed to treat and/or discipline players with substance abuse problems. Insofar as relevant here, Stage 1 involves a preliminary medical evaluation and, if necessary, treatment for players who enter the program through a positive drug test. A player who is referred to Stage 1 by reason of a positive drug test advances to Stage 2, where he becomes subject to unannounced drug testing conducted under the direction of the program's Medical Advisor. A player who tests positive for drugs while in Stage 2 is subject to discipline that includes a fine of four weeks' regular season pay. A player who tests positive a second time during Stage 2 faces a four-game suspension without pay, and advances to Stage 3. A positive drug test in Stage 3 results in banishment from the NFL for a period of at least one calendar year.

On March 31, 1995 the NFL involuntarily enrolled Holmes in Stage 1 of the Drug Program as a result of the positive test administered by the Lions. He then advanced to Stage 2. On July 13 and 14, 1995, and again on August 30, 1995, Holmes tested positive for drugs. On July 26, 1995 the NFL fined Holmes as a result of the July test. On September 14, 1995 the NFL suspended Holmes without pay for four regular season games, and placed him in Stage 3 of the Drug Program, based on the August drug test.³

On September 4, 1995 Holmes appealed the fine, and on September 19, 1995 appealed the four-game suspension, to NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue ("Commissioner Tagliabue"), as permitted by § N of the Drug Program.⁴ The Commissioner set a hearing for October 18, 1995.⁵ Holmes did not challenge the Lions test until mid-October, shortly before the hearing on his appeals.

Beginning on September 4, 1995 Holmes' counsel initiated a series of letters to NFL officials and Management Council attorneys in which he requested copies of relevant medical records and drug test results, or advised them that he had not received the documents. It is undisputed, however, that prior to the October 18 hearing, Holmes' counsel had been provided the results of the August 30 test that triggered Holmes' four-game suspension.

Holmes' counsel requested a postponement of the hearing on the ground that he had not been given documents related to Holmes' entry into the Drug Program, the NFL's notification to Holmes that he had been placed in Stage 2 of the program, and information pertaining to tests under the program. The Commissioner denied the continuance request, and convened the hearing as scheduled. The Management Council presented evidence of Holmes' positive drug tests. Holmes primarily questioned the propriety of his entry into the Drug Program and the accuracy of the positive tests. His counsel raised procedural challenges to his inability to cross-examine witnesses, to obtain and introduce controverting expert testimony without prior document production, to contest the propriety of his entry into the Drug Program based on the Lions test, and to challenge his receipt of the July 26, 1995 letter notifying him that he had been fined.

During the hearing, and by October 19 letter, Commissioner Tagliabue directed that the Management Council provide Holmes the results from the March 1995 Lions test, and of the positive tests of July 13 and 14. He also ruled that Holmes would be permitted to challenge the adequacy of the written notice of the fine based on the July tests, and would be afforded an opportunity to present expert testimony by conference call to dispute the results of all drug tests administered in 1995, including the Lions test. The Commissioner imposed a deadline for submission of additional evidence and testimony, and advised Holmes' counsel of his intent to conclude all aspects of the hearing by October 31, 1995, with a decision to be issued shortly thereafter.

After the Management Council submitted documents to Holmes, his counsel complained to the Commissioner that they were incomplete, thus precluding him from obtaining expert testimony that he could introduce into the hearing record. He did not, however, challenge the completeness of the August 30 test results, which consisted of 62 pages. Holmes' counsel did assert that his proposed experts had concluded that the tendered documents were incomplete, and deprived him of a fair opportunity to present a defense because no expert opinion could be rendered on such a record. Holmes requested complete documentation concerning the July 13 and 14 tests and the Lions test, and sought any documented testing that had been recorded since the date he entered the Drug Program. Holmes' counsel separately advised the Commissioner of his insistence upon a full hearing, including the right to examine and cross-examine witnesses, to confront accusers, and to put on a defense. He filed a written request for a full hearing and a temporary stay of disciplinary action and of mandatory participation in the Drug Program. He also submitted a letter brief, arguing inter alia that no decision should be made until Holmes received a formal hearing.

On November 3, 1995 the Commissioner issued his decision. The ruling disposed of Holmes' appeal from the Lions test, the fine based on the July tests, and the four-game suspension stemming from the August test. The Commissioner determined, first, that Holmes' objection to the Lions test was not timely asserted. He ruled, second, that Holmes' appeal from the fine based on the July tests was also untimely. In doing so, he considered but rejected an affidavit that Holmes had submitted in which he stated that he did not "recall" receiving the July 26 notice letter, and accepted instead sworn evidence from the Cowboys that the letter had been delivered. The Commissioner concluded, third, that Holmes' appeal from the four-game suspension based on the August test must be denied. Holmes had "presented no evidence that the test was inaccurate, nor any reason to suspect that it was." Nov. 3, 1995 Ltr. at 3.

Following the Commissioner's adverse ruling, Holmes filed the instant lawsuit against the NFL and the Management Council. He contends that defendants breached the CBA, in...